Staple extractor



April 15, 1952 R. HOFSTETTER 2,592,570

STAPLE EXTRACTOR Filed Aug. 51, 1949 Patented Apr. 15, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes without payment to me of any royalty thereon in accordance with the provisions of the act of April 30, 1928 (ch. 460, 45 Stat. L. 467).

This invention relates to devices for extractlng sheet-binding staples and particularly to one in which opposed pairs of overlapping claws are initially forced between a sheet and a binding staple followed by a retraction of one pair of claws with respect to the relatively stationary claws.

In the accompanying drawings illustrative of a preferred form of my device,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device in initial staple-straddling position.

Figure 2 is a side elevation, in final position showing an extracted staple prior to discharging the same.

Figure 3 is a bottom view of my device with the claws in initial position.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

In these drawings:

A pair of staple-engaging claws II, II are integral with a housing I2 forming a handle for the device, a second pair of claws I3, I3 are adapted to telescopically engage said claws II, II and are integral with a guiding cam I4. The cam portion is preferably U-shaped in cross section and may have identical cams i4, I4 on each leg, while one or both of the legs of the U are slotted as at I5. A lower transverse pin I6, preferably within a roller H, which may also serve as a spacer, is mounted transversely of the housing I2 and provides an abutment against which the cam I4 is forced during the operation of my device. Around the roller I! is a coiled spring I8 having an arm I9 bearing against the housing I2 and another arm 20 bearing against a transverse pin 2I which is mounted in and spans the cam members I4, the arm 20 extending outwardly from the claws I3 as shown in Figure 3 The slots I5, I receive a second transverse pin 22 which is mounted in and spans the housing I2 for assisting in guiding the cams I4, I4. Each extension of the pin 2| is initially in contact with a shoulder 23 of the housing I2 but after the staple is engaged by the claws I3 the pin 2| moves into two recesses 23A. For distributing the pressure applied by the operators thumb there is rigidly attached to the cam member H a button 24 preferably similar to those in common use on typewriters.

In operation, my device maybe grasped in one hand with a thumb on the button 24 and pressed against sheets 25 to be separated with the claws I3 and II straddling a wire staple 26 and is squeezed, which initially forces the claws II and I 3 between the sheets 25 and the staple 26 and because they are arranged to telescope they joint- 1y put pressure on the staple 26. As the squeezing is continued the cam I4, in riding on the roller I1, is bodily reciprocated with respect to the companion housing member I2 and thereby draws the staple 26 out of the sheets 25 as the staple prongs are straightened. Thus, the staple is ggiickly extracted without mutilating the sheets It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a portable staple extracting device, the improvement which comprises a housing forming a handle provided with two spaced claws merging into staple arresting abutments, a pin supporting shoulder and a pin receiving recess, a pair of opposed claws rigidly connected with a U-shaped member provided with a cam face and a longitudinal slot retractably mounted within said handle, a pressure distributing button'rigidly secured to said retractable member, a transverse pin mounted in said retractable member and extending laterally to engage said shoulder of said handle, a transverse cam engaging .pin mounted in said housing, a coiled spring mounted on said cam engaging pin having oppositely extending arms one of which bears against said housing while the companion arm bears against said transverse pin in said retractable member, and a second transverse pin in said housing which is mounted transversely to said retractable member and engages the slot in said member.

ROBERT HOFSTETTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 270,085 Lewis Jan. 2, 1883 2,539,171 Yerkes Jan. 23, 1951 2,549,260 Sudbury Apr. 17, 1951, 

